System, method and apparatus for on-demand printing of hazardous materials placards for use in the transportation and/or storage of hazardous materials

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to on-demand printing of hazardous material placards. Disclosed herein is a system comprising: (a) an input device through which a user can input parameters relating to a hazardous material to be transported or stored; (b) a processor configured to determine a hazardous material placard for the hazardous material according to a computerized analysis of the input parameters; and (c) an output device configured to print the determined placard. Preferably, the processor determines the appropriate placard by executing a placard selection program that comprises a plurality of placard selection rules, wherein the placard selection rules define the conditions under which a placard is to be used. Further, the placard selection rules preferably comply with government regulations relating to the shipment and/or storage of hazardous materials. Also, the system may display a menu of placards selectable by the user for printing.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for printinghazardous material placards of the type that are used in connection withthe transportation and/or storage of hazardous materials.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Hazardous material placards are well-known items that are usedwithin the transportation industry and storage/warehousing industry towarn people of the presence of hazardous materials. Different types ofhazardous materials merit different types of placards. Because thehandling of hazardous materials is a major safety issue of nationalimportance, a large number of government regulations define theconditions under which various placards are to be used (see, forexample, 49 CFR Part 172; 49 CFR 177.823; and other well-knownregulations governing the use of placards in connection with hazardousmaterials; see also “Handling Hazardous Materials”, J. J. Keller &Associates, Inc, 2001, the entire disclosures of all of which areincorporated herein by reference). For example, for a shipment of nickelcyanide, a POISON placard would be appropriate, while for a shipment ofmorpholine, a FLAMMABLE placard would be appropriate. Under thesegovernment regulations, factors that affect the selection of anappropriate placard may include: (1) the class(es) of hazardousmaterial(s) involved, and (2) the amount(s) of hazardous material(s)involved.

[0003] Because of the complexity of such government regulations, effortshave been made in the art to develop a system that automaticallyidentifies an appropriate placard for use with the transportation orstorage of a hazardous material. For example, U.S. patent applicationPublication 2002/0103570 (in the name of Petrancosta), the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses suchan effort.

[0004] However, while systems such as the one disclosed by Petrancostaprovide a general improvement in the art with respect to identifying anappropriate placard for use in the shipment or storage of hazardousmaterials, it is the inventor's belief that such systems have failed toachieve widespread acceptance in the marketplace because of a variety ofsubstantial shortcomings that hinder their value.

[0005] First, in conventional practices known to the inventor,transportation terminals and warehouse/storage facilities must purchaselarge numbers of different kinds of placards. These placards, which areheld in inventory, are selected for use with the transportation and/orstorage of hazardous materials as needed. Once selected for use, aplacard is affixed to either the outside of the transportation vehicleor the material packaging/container at a visible location (see, forexample, 49 CFR 172.516).

[0006] The task of ensuring that the placard inventory is complete andup-to-date is a complex one that many entities struggle with. Tomaintain an inventory of a full set of placards that accounts for all ofthe potential combinations of placard type, classification number, andUN numbers, a company would have to constantly track the supply andusage of thousands of different hazardous material placards.

[0007] Alternatively, many companies opt to purchase a large number ofgeneric placard types (e.g., “flammable” placards, “corrosive” placards,etc.) with either or both of the class number and UN number fieldsblank. Under such an approach, companies typically maintain a largeinventory of stickers or number tiles that that can be affixed to thegeneric placards as necessary to accommodate different hazardousmaterial types. While reducing the size and complexity of maintainingthe placard inventory, this approaches requires companies to manage aninventory of stickers and/or number tiles.

[0008] Moreover, as conventional hazardous material placards circulatethroughout the national and international transportation networks, theyare inevitably re-used and sometimes altered to accommodate supplyshortages. For example, it is relatively common for a placard to haveits UN number modified to accommodate a given shipment, by for examplechanging a “1” to a “7” using a black marker or black tape. Similarly,white tape has been used to change the number “4” to a “1”.

[0009] While such hand-numbering and alterations are not encouraged,they are an inevitable consequence of the conventional businesspractices relating to hazardous material placards because no matter howhard a company may try to keep its placard inventory complete, asituation will almost assuredly arise where a shipment of a given amountof hazardous material will be slated for transportation or storage andthe proper placard is unavailable. In situations like these, companiesare faced with a tough dilemma of whether to modify an existing placardto approximate the government-mandated placard or ship/store thehazardous material without the appropriate placard. Unfortunately, asevidenced by the volume of fines imposed on transportation companies forimproper placarding, problems do exist in the field wherein shipmentsleave a terminal or warehouse without the appropriate placard. This notonly violates government regulations but also creates a substantialsafety problem.

[0010] Hazardous material placards perform an important safety role inthat they allow firefighters and other emergency response personnel toquickly identify a potential problem and how that problem should behandled. For example, if a tractor-trailer full of a particular kind oftoxic or corrosive substance is involved in an accident, it is extremelyimportant that responding emergency personnel be able to quickly andaccurately identify the type of hazardous material involved. Suchpersonnel typically possess manuals that identify response proceduresfor dealing with specific hazardous materials, and if thetractor-trailer is improperly placarded, a substantial breakdown in thesafety process is created.

[0011] Further, the use of stickers or hand-numbering to create anappropriate placard from a generic placard allows for the introductionof human error into the placarding process. This human error may relateto the improper selection of numbers (e.g., transposing numbers suchthat “1409” is used as a UN number when “1049” was intended), or ininadequately affixing the number(s) to the placard such that thenumber(s) fall off the placard during movement of the hazardousmaterial(s).

[0012] Further still, the costs related to maintaining a sufficientinventory of placards and placard-related items (such as numberstickers, etc.) is substantial. For a relatively small over-the-roadtransportation company, the placard inventory costs can be as much as$50,000 per year (not including any fines that such a company may incurfor improper placarding citations). For large transportation companiesor large manufacturers who ship large amounts of hazardous materials,the inventor herein believes that the yearly placard inventory costs mayreach six or seven figures.

[0013] Moreover, the storage of large numbers of placards attransportation terminals or storage facilities creates a space problem.That is, a large amount of space at the terminal or facility must be setaside for storing the placards.

[0014] In an effort to solve these aforementioned problems in the art,the inventor herein has developed a system, method and apparatus thatallows a user to print, on-demand, the appropriate placard for ahazardous material to be shipped or stored. The present inventionalleviates the burdens related to maintaining a placard inventory andgreatly reduces the amount of human error that can be introduced intothe placarding system. Further, the present invention provides thesebenefits while reducing the placard-related costs borne by a companybecause placard supply is optimized to exactly match placard demand viaan elegantly simple low-cost on-demand placard production process.

[0015] Accordingly, under one aspect of the present invention, disclosedherein is a system comprising: (1) an input device through which a usercan select a hazardous material placard from a menu of hazardousmaterial placards; (2) memory in which placard attributes are stored,the placard attributes defining the graphical appearance of a pluralityof hazardous material placards; (3) a processor in communication withthe input device and memory, wherein the processor is configured toretrieve from memory the placard attributes corresponding to theselected placard; and (4) an output device in communication with theprocessor, wherein the output device is configured to print one or morehazardous material placards in accordance with the retrieved placardattributes.

[0016] The above-described system works well in situations where theuser already knows of the hazardous material placard that is needed.However, it is often the case where the user is uncertain of thenecessary hazardous material placard(s). For example, in a situationwherein a transporter intends to ship a composite cargo of X pounds ofHazardous Material 1 and Y pounds of Hazardous Material 2, theappropriate placard for the shipment may not be readily known becauserelatively complex government regulations define how placards are to beselected for composite shipments. In an effort to ensure the shipment isappropriately placarded, the present invention also provides a processfor determining the appropriate placard to be printed on-demand as afunction of user input related to the various parameters related to thehazardous material(s) to be shipped or stored. It should be noted thatthis feature of the present invention can be used in connection not onlywith composite shipments of a plurality of hazardous materials but alsothe shipment and/or storage of an amount of a single type of hazardousmaterial.

[0017] Thus, according to another aspect of the present invention,disclosed herein is a system comprising: (1) an input device throughwhich a user can input parameters relating to a hazardous material to betransported or stored, (2) a processor configured to determine ahazardous material placard for the hazardous material according to acomputerized analysis of the input parameters, and (3) an output deviceconfigured to print the determined placard.

[0018] Preferably, the input and output device are located in a facilitywhere hazardous material placards are needed, such as a transportationterminal or a storage facility. Transportations terminals may includefacilities such as trucking terminals, rail terminals, port facilities,road-side truck stops or gas stations that cater to over-the-roadtruckers, weigh stations, inspection stations, loading/unloading docksat manufacturing facilities, and the like. Storage facilities mayinclude warehouses, railyards, tractor-trailer yards, and the like. Eachfacility may include a plurality of such input and output devices toallow concurrent placard printing by a plurality of users.

[0019] Also, the processor is preferably further configured to execute ahazardous material placard selection program, wherein the program isconfigured to determine a hazardous material placard according to arelationship between the input parameters and a plurality ofpredetermined hazardous material placard selection rules. These placardselection rules preferably comply with applicable government regulationsrelating to hazardous materials.

[0020] Further, the system preferably further comprises memory that isconfigured to store a plurality of hazardous material placardattributes, wherein the placard attributes correspond to the appearancesof the placards, wherein the processor is further configured to retrievethe stored attributes corresponding to the determined placard, andwherein the output device is further configured to print the determinedplacard in accordance with the retrieved attributes. The placardproduced by the output device preferably complies with the applicablegovernment regulations in connection with the appearance of hazardousmaterial placards.

[0021] The input parameters provided by the user preferably relate tothe class(es) of hazardous material(s) to be transported or stored, andthe amount(s) of the hazardous material(s). However, other parametersmay be used in addition to or instead of these parameters, such as theUN number(s) of the hazardous material(s), the North American number(s)of the hazardous material(s), the name(s) of the hazardous material(s),and the like. However, it should be noted that the inventor prefers thathazardous material amount remain one of the input parameters,particularly when composite shipments comprising a combination ofdifferent types of hazardous materials are involved.

[0022] Also, the placard selection rules and placard attributes alsopreferably take into account using the appropriate UN identificationnumbers and classification numbers on the placards for the hazardousmaterials. Further still, the placard selection rules preferablyimplement the segregation and compatibility rules that relate tocomposite shipments.

[0023] Further, the components of the system may be implemented in adistributed manner, thereby taking advantage of the flexibility providedby communications networks such as the Internet. Such distributedimplementation allows centralization for features of the invention thatare broadly applicable to each local input device and output device.

[0024] Additional features of the present invention include the abilityto implement a payment system for the placard printing process and theability to adjust the placard selection program and/or placardattributes to changes via a centralized server.

[0025] Moreover, the present invention may be implemented on a computerreadable medium. Such a medium may include, but is not limited to aCD-ROM disk, a computer hard drive, software resident on anetwork-accessible server, and the like.

[0026] Thus, the invention provides an elegantly simple and low-costsolution to the placard inventory management problem. Further, thepresent invention provides a means for improving the safety of thenation's transportation network and storage facilities by greatlyreducing the amount of human error that can be introduced into theplacarding process. Further still, the present invention provides ameans by which a company can cost-effectively minimize the likelihood ofgovernment fines for improper placarding.

[0027] These and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill be in part pointed out and in part apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art upon review of the following description, figures, andclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028]FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of the present invention;

[0029] FIGS. 2(a)-(d) illustrate preferred graphical user interfaces(GUIs) comprising a menu of hazardous material placards that areuser-selectable for printing;

[0030]FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary bill of lading for a shipment of ahazardous material;

[0031] FIGS. 4(a) and (b) illustrate preferred GUIs through which a userinputs pertinent hazardous material data;

[0032]FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting a preferred implementation of theplacard selection program;

[0033]FIG. 6 illustrates an implementation of the present invention as aself-service kiosk;

[0034]FIG. 7 illustrates an implementation of the present invention withdistributed components;

[0035]FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative implementation of the presentinvention with distributed components;

[0036]FIG. 9 illustrates another alternative implementation of thepresent invention with distributed components;

[0037]FIG. 10 illustrates a placard printing device that has beenintegrated with a payment device;

[0038]FIG. 11(a) illustrates a placard printing device that has beenimplemented with deferred billing;

[0039]FIG. 11(b) is a flowchart depicting the creation of a transactionrecord for deferred billing; and

[0040]FIG. 12(a) and (b) illustrate how a central server can be used tocontrol the distribution of updates to the placard selection programand/or placard attributes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION IF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0041] FIGS. 2(a)-(d) include depictions of exemplary hazardous materialplacards 100. For example, FIG. 2(a) illustrates several placards 100,including a “poison” placard 100 and a “combustible” placard 100. Thereferenced “poison” placard includes a graphical symbol 102 that isindicative of poison and a class number 106 that is indicative of theclass of hazardous materials to which that particular “poison” placardpertains. Similarly, the referenced “combustible” placard includes agraphical symbol 102 that is indicative of a combustible material and aclass number 106 that is indicative of the class of materials to whichthat particular “combustible” placard pertains. Hazardous material classand subclass numbers, which are well-known in the art, are used todenote a relatively broad class of hazardous materials.

[0042]FIG. 2(c) illustrates several depictions of exemplary placards 100that include an identification number field 104. The UN number thatcorresponds to the specific type of hazardous material being transportedor stored populates field 104. Alternatively, a North Americanidentification number can fill this field. However, as UN numbers arethe dominant identification number for hazardous material placards (andwill presumably become increasingly dominant as time goes on in today'sglobal economy), the inventor contemplates that the UN number will bethe most preferred identification number to include in field 104. UNnumbers and North American numbers are well-known in the art, and aswould be readily understood by those persons of ordinary skill in theart, there are literally thousands of potential placards that may beneeded by a transporter to accommodate the multitude of permutationsbetween placard types, class numbers, and UN numbers. The presentinvention preferably provides the ability to produce any such placardson demand as needed by a party.

[0043]FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. The placard printing system 200 comprises a processor202 with associated memory 204, an input device 206 in communicationwith the processor, and an output device 208 also in communication withthe processor.

Memory 204

[0044] Preferably, memory 204 stores a placard selection program ormodule 210 that is executable to determine an appropriate placard as afunction of predetermined placard selection rules and any hazardousmaterials data provided by a user via the input device 206. Further,memory 204 also stores a plurality of placard attributes 212 thatcorrespond to the appearance of a desired placard. Preferably, theplacard attributes are stored in memory as bitmap files that correspondto the different placard types shown in FIGS. 2 (a)-(d). When a UNnumber or other variable data item needs to be printed on the placard,the program can insert that data in the necessary field for printing. Itshould be readily understood, however, that the placard attributes canbe stored in formats other than bitmaps, such as jpegs or the like.Further, rather than store the placard attributes as discrete placards,subfeatures of the placards' graphical appearances can be stored (e.g.,the different symbols or background colors, class fields, UN numberfields, etc.) separately and assembled as needed at print time. Furtherstill, the placard attributes can be stored in memory after scanningexisting hazardous material placards into memory with a scanner.

[0045] Preferably, the placard attributes are stored in memory to allowplacard printing wherein the resultant placard's appearance complieswith government regulations (see, for example, 49 CFR 172.519-172.560,the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference).Any known techniques for defining graphical appearances and formattingtechnologies may be used to define the placard attributes and fit theplacard into desired dimensions, colors, and font sizes.

[0046] Also, as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in theart, while memory 204 is shown as a unitary box in FIG. 2, inimplementation, the memory may be implemented in a distributed mannerwith several memory units, each storing some portion of the module 210or attributes 212. Further, as will be more apparent below, the memory204 may be local to the processor 202 or it may be a remote databaseaccessible to the processor 202. For example, the memory 204 may beimplemented as a database accessible to the processor via acommunications network such as the Internet.

Input Device 206

[0047] The input device 206 is an interface through which a user canselect one or more placards for printing via either (1) direct selectionof a placard or (2) input to the processor 202 of pertinent datarelating to the hazardous material(s) to be shipped or stored. Examplesof such data include the class of hazardous material and the quantity(preferably weight) of hazardous material. Other parameters that can beused in conjunction with or in place of class and quantity include UNnumber, North American number, hazardous material name, hazardousmaterial description, and a shipping label code. These parameters arepreferably known by the user via the bill of lading that accompanies thehazardous material to be shipped or stored.

[0048]FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary bill of lading 120 thataccompanies hazardous materials during transport or storage. Field 122identifies the number of units being shipped. Field 124 identifieswhether the unit being shipped contains a hazardous material. Field 126describes the material being shipped, and if that material is ahazardous material, includes the proper shipping name of the hazardousmaterial. Field 128 identifies the appropriate class number for thehazardous material. In the preferred embodiment wherein class number isused as an input parameter in the placard selection process, the usercan learn of the appropriate class number from field 128. Further, field128 may also include the hazardous material's division number (ifapplicable) and compatibility group (if applicable). Field 130 similarlyidentifies the appropriate UN number for the hazardous material. Field132 identifies the type of packaging used for the shipment (e.g., drum,box, etc.). Field 134 identifies the weight of the shipment (which canbe in any unit of weight measurement). In the preferred embodimentwherein amount is used as an input parameter in the placard selectionprocess, the user can learn of the appropriate hazardous material amountfrom field 128. Government regulations strictly mandate the maintenanceof the bill of lading 120, and because the bill of lading should alwaysaccompany the hazardous material being shipped (usually within reach ofthe person performing the transportation such as a truck driver), thebill of lading can serve as an excellent accurate source for the user'sinput parameters during the placard selection process.

[0049] Preferably, the input device 206 comprises a monitor with agraphical user interface (GUI) and a keyboard or mouse through which theuser can select one or more placards or populate various fields of theGUI with pertinent hazardous materials data. However, while a GUIinterface with keyboard/mouse input is preferred, the input device canbe any device through which a user can provide data to a computer. Otherimplementations include, but are not limited to, (1) a touchscreen GUI,(2) a touchscreen GUI with stylus input, (3) a GUI with mouse inputwherein each GUI field is populatable via a drop-down menu withpotential data values, (4) a voice-to-computer text synthesis module forconverting a user's spoken words into machine-readable data values, (5)a scanner for optically scanning an existing document (such as the billof lading) with pertinent data thereon and converting the scanned datainto the necessary data fields, etc.

[0050] FIGS. 2(a)-(d) illustrate preferred GUIs for direct selection ofplacards for printing from a menu of available placards. The GUIdepicted in FIG. 2(a) includes several placards 100 available forselection and printing via user-selectable buttons 140 and 142. Eachbutton 140 effectuates the printing of a single corresponding placard100 while each button 142 effectuates the printing of a plurality (fourin the example shown) of the corresponding placards 100. If the userdoes not find the desired placard on the GUI of FIG. 2(a), the selectionof the “More Placards” button will cause the GUI of FIG. 2(b) to bedisplayed. The GUI of FIG. 2(b) is highly similar to the GUI of FIG.2(a), but includes the placards 100 that are not shown in FIG. 2(a) andincludes a user-selectable button 152 allowing navigation back to theGUI of FIG. 2(a). The GUI of FIG. 2(b) further allows for the selectionand printing of subsidiary placards 100. As noted in the text portion ofthe GUI, and as is well-known in the art, for each transport vehicle,freight container, portable tank, unit load device, or rail car thatcontains a hazardous material requiring a “poison inhalation hazard”placard or a “dangerous when wet” placard, subsidiary placards should beused together with the corresponding primary placard. Further, as noted,subsidiary placards may be used with hazardous materials that possesssecondary hazards, even though not required by law.

[0051] In the event the user needs to print a placard 100 that includesa UN number, the user can select the “print UN numbers” button 144 tonavigate to the GUI of FIG. 2(c). The GUI of FIG. 2(c) includes a field160 in which a user can enter the appropriate UN number for a particularhazardous material. Preferably, the user will identify this number fromthe bill of lading that corresponds to the hazardous material. Afterentering a UN number in field 160, the user can print a placard withthat UN number located in field 104 of the placard 100 by selecting theappropriate button 140 or 142.

[0052] Because each placard has a set of UN numbers which may be used inconjunction therewith, program logic preferably associates a permissibleset of UN numbers with each placard 100 (the set comprising one or moreUN numbers that may permissibly be used with the particular placard).The sets can be readily determined from government regulations, such asthe hazardous materials table (HMT) defined in 49 CFR 172.101, theentire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The HMTidentifies the class number and UN number for all hazardous materials.From this data, the permissible UN numbers for each placard are readilydeterminable. Thus, the programming logic can detect when a user hasselected a UN number that is not compatible with a selected placard.Upon such detection, the programming logic preferably prevents theprinting of the selected placard and notifies the user of the error.

[0053] In the event the user needs to print a placard 100 for ahazardous material that is explosive, the user can select the “explosiveplacards” button 150 to navigate to the GUI of FIG. 2(d). The GUI ofFIG. 2(d) includes various “explosives” placards 100 that can beselected via buttons 140 and 142. For the two leftmost placards 100, auser also is given the option of placing division numbers andcompatibility group identifiers on the corresponding placards 100 viadata entry in fields 162 and 164. A dropdown menu may be used to presenta list of available options to the user. Further, it is preferable thatprogramming logic be used to ensure that the division numbers (e.g. thenumbers following the decimal point after the class number) andcompatibility group identifier (e.g., the letters that indicate whichdivisions can be loaded or stored together, wherein a commoncompatibility identifier indicates that co-loading/co-storing ispermissible) comply with government regulations. If the user isuncertain of what placard(s) is/are needed for a hazardous material (orcombination of hazardous materials), the present invention provides aGUI as shown in FIG. 4(a), referred to as a “placard wizard”. Via theplacard wizard GUI of FIG. 4(a), a user can enter pertinent parametersrelating to one or more hazardous materials to be shipped or stored andlearn of the necessary placard requirements.

[0054] As noted above, the bill of lading that accompanies the hazardousmaterial is preferably the source of the input data for the placardwizard GUI. Namely, the bill of lading will identify the hazardousmaterial class and hazardous material weight. Accordingly, for eachhazardous material class listed in column 170, there is a correspondingfield 172 in which the user can enter the weight for the amount ofhazardous material to be shipped or stored. Preferably this weight is inpounds, but as would be readily understood, other units of measurement,such as those of the metric system, can be used in the practice of thepresent invention. Further, an interface 174 for converting from metric(e.g., kilograms) to pounds can be provided for the user's convenience.

[0055] Upon entering the weight of the hazardous material class for eachcomponent of the units being shipped or stored, the user can select the“think” button 176 (the user can select the “clear boxes” button 178 toclear any data entered in the fields 172). Selection of the “think”button triggers the placard selection program to determine theappropriate placard(s) for the parameters input by the user. Asexplained in more detail below, the preferred placard selection programimplements a plurality of placard selection rules via programming logicto determine placard requirements for a given set of input parameters.The results of the placard selection program are displayed in fields 180and 182. Field 180 identifies the placard or placards that are requiredfor the hazardous material(s) represented by the user input. Field 182identifies placards which may be optionally replaced by a “dangerous”placard. Once the placards in fields 180 and 182 are identified, a usercan either return to the GUIs of FIGS. 2(a)-(d) to print the appropriateplacards, or a print button (not shown) that is configured to print theplacards in field 180 (and optionally field 182) can be implemented onthe placard wizard GUI. Further, the placard wizard GUI preferablyincludes fields 184 that allow user entry of the weights for subsidiaryamounts of materials in certain hazard classes.

[0056] Through the placard selection rules implemented in logic by theplacard selection program, it is preferred that controls be implementedto prevent a user from combining hazardous materials in a load unitdevice that constitute impermissible combinations. Upon detecting suchan occurrence, the GUI preferably notifies the user via an error messagebox 186 as shown in FIG. 4(b). In the example shown in FIG. 4(b), a userhas attempted to combine 12 pounds of a hazardous material in Class 1.3for explosives with 1001 pounds of a hazardous material designated as“Inhalation Hazard 2.3 Zone B.” Upon selection of the “think” button176, the placard selection module operates to detect the error conditionand display the message box 186 to notify the user that such acombination is impermissible.

[0057] While the present invention has been disclosed wherein the userhas the ability to select placards for printing via either a placardmenu GUI or a input parameter-based placard selector GUI, it should bereadily understood that the present invention may be implemented witheither or both of these options. Further, it should noted that theplacard wizard GUI can be implemented to utilize parameters other thanhazard class and weight. While class and weight are highly preferredbecause of their easy availability from the bill of lading, therebyreducing the potential for human error, as mentioned above, suitablealternative or additional parameters include UN number, North Americannumber, hazardous material name, hazardous material description, andshipping label code.

Output Device 208

[0058] The output device 208 can be any device that is capable ofoutputting a hard copy of a hazardous material placard. Preferably, theoutput device is a wide-frame printer such as an Epson Stylus Photo 2200printer. The media upon which the placards are printed may include anymedia upon which a placard suitable for commercial use can besuccessfully printed. The preferred medium is matte paper, glossy paper,or paperboard that is inserted into a clear urethane plastic cover.Further, the medium preferably complies with the size, strength anddurability criteria set forth in 49 CFR 172.519. Additional suitablemedia include printable vinyl media, photo paper, plain paper, plainpaper with an adhesive backing, poster board, etc. Further, it should benoted that the output device may be implemented integrally with othercomponents of the placard printing system (such in a kioskimplementation) or implemented as a separate component in the system(such as where a single output device is used with a LAN to printplacards for several input devices). Such implementations will varyaccording to the needs of a practitioner of the present invention.Processor 202:

[0059] The processor 202 operates to control the GUIs presented to theuser, receive the input data from the input device 206, execute theplacard selection program 210 retrieved from memory 204, and determinethe appropriate placard for the shipment/storage of hazardous materialsrepresented by the input data. As would be understood by those ofordinary skill in the art, the processor may be any processor capable ofinteracting with the input device, executing the placard selectionprogram, and interacting with the output device. A preferred processorfor the present invention is a processor having at least a 1.3 GHzspeed. Also, as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in theart, while processor 202 is shown as a unitary box in FIG. 2, inimplementation, the processor may be implemented in a distributed mannerwith several processing units, each performing different tasks.

Placard Selection Program 210

[0060] The selection of an appropriate hazardous material placard for agiven hazardous material to be shipped or stored is controlled by theplacard selection program of the present invention. The placardselection program comprises a plurality of placard selection rules thatdefine the conditions under which the various hazardous materialplacards are to be selected for the hazardous material that is to beshipped or stored. Preferably, the rules are implemented into executableprogramming code via known programming logic such as Visual Basic orother readily known programming languages.

[0061] The preferred placard selection rules for the present inventionare those defined by Title 49, Parts 172-177 of the Code of FederalRegulations with respect to placarding requirements (the entiredisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference). Inparticular, the placard selection rules may be those defined by theconditions set forth in 49 CFR 172.504, 49 CFR 172.334, 49 CFR 172.505,and 49 CFR 172.101. Moreover, it is preferred that the placard selectionrules implement segregation rules defined by 49 CFR 172.848 (for highwaytransportation) and other corresponding regulations for transportationvia other means such as rail, air, and vessel. The segregation chartsfound in these regulations define the conditions under which differenthazardous materials may or may not be loaded, transported, or storedtogether.

[0062] Further, placard selection charts that define suitable placardselection rules and that are relatively user-friendly are commerciallyavailable from companies such as J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. ofNeenah, Wisconsin (see, for example, J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.,“Hazardous Materials Chart”, “Hazardous Materials Placarding Chart”, and“Hazardous Materials Load and Segregation Chart”, 1999 (the disclosuresof all of which are incorporate herein by reference).

[0063] A programmer with routine skills may use the incorporated CFRregulations or incorporated publicly available placarding charts asflowcharts for developing program logic that implements these placardselection rules. Such programming logic preferably processes the userinput parameter against “if/then/else” logic statements that implementthe placard selection rules to identify one or more placards that areappropriate for a given amount of hazardous material(s) to be shipped orstored.

[0064]FIG. 5 illustrates the basic operation of the placard selectionprogram. At step 500, the program receives input from the usercorresponding to the above-described hazardous material parameters. Atstep 502, this input is processed against the placard selection rules todetermine whether the hazard material(s) defined by the user input areallowed to be shipped or stored as such. If an error is detected, atstep 506, the program can display an error message box such as box 186in FIG. 4(b). As an example, for a user who is attempting to ship twotypes of hazardous materials that are incompatible with each other andmay not be shipped on the same vehicle, steps 504 and 506 operate tonotify the user of this error so that appropriate corrections oralternate shipping/storage arrangements can be made.

[0065] If no error is detected at step 504, the program will identifyone or more placards that are applicable to the user input and displayeach placard to the user, such as disclosed in fields 180 and 182 ofFIG. 4(a). Once the user instructs the program to print the listedplacard(s) (at step 510), the program retrieves the attribute data frommemory that corresponds to the listed placard(s) at step 512.Thereafter, at step 514, the program instructs the output device toprint the placard(s) in accordance with the retrieved attribute data.

Implementations

[0066]FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention whereinthe placard printing system is implemented as a self-service kiosk 300wherein the user provides pertinent data to the system via the inputdevice and an integral output device produces the placard as requestedby the user.

[0067]FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention whereinthe components of the placard printing system are implemented in adistributed manner. In FIG. 7, the memory 204 is distributed as localmemory 204 a for the processor 202 and a remote database 204 b that isaccessible by the processor 202 via a communications network 220. Thecommunications network 220 may be any known network over which data canbe communicated, including but not limited to a public wide area network(WAN) such as the Internet, a private WAN, a public or private localarea network (LAN), a telecommunications network, or a wireless network.Further, as remote network communications are readily understood andknown by those having ordinary skill in the art, and because no specifictechnique is preferred by the inventor herein, the details relating tothe how remote network communications are implemented need not be setout herein.

[0068] In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the processor 202 preferablyaccesses the remote database 204 b via server 222 to retrieve theplacard attributes for hazardous material placard selected by theplacard selection program 210 executed thereby. In this embodiment, thedatabase 204 b serves as a centralized database accessible by aplurality of placard printing devices 230 which are preferably locatedat transportation terminals or storage facilities to allow on-demandplacard printing. The term placard printing device 230 is used to referto the portions of the system 200 that are located at a transportationterminal, storage facility, or the like. The placard printing device 230may include some or all of the components of system 200. By centralizingthe database 204 b, the present invention provides great flexibilitywhen adjusting to changes in the appearance of hazardous materialplacards, That is, if the appearance of a given hazardous materialplacard is changed, the present invention can quickly accommodate thatchange by altering the content of database 204 b rather than making whatmay be hundreds or thousands of changes to the memory units residing atall of the placard printing device locations.

[0069]FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative embodiment wherein the remotedatabase 204 b stores both the placard attributes 212 and the placardselection program 210. With this embodiment, processor 202 will alsoaccess the remote database to retrieve the placard selection program.After the server 222 has communicated the placard selection program 210to the processor 202 for execution thereby, the appropriate placardattributes can be retrieved from the remote database 204 b. As with theembodiment of FIG. 7, by storing the placard selection program 210 at acentralized location, it becomes easier to modify the program 210 aschanges are made to the rules governing the conditions under whichhazardous materials placards are to be used.

[0070]FIG. 9 illustrates yet another alternative embodiment wherein theprocessor 202 and database 204 are remote from the input device 206 andoutput device 208. In this embodiment, the input device 206 and outputdevice 208 communicate with the processor 202 via the communicationsnetwork 220. Input data received by the input device 206 is passed tothe processor 202 over the network 220, The processor then executes theplacard selection program 210 to identify the appropriate hazardousmaterials placard, and the processor thereafter retrieves the placardattributes corresponding to the selected placard from the database 204for communication to the output device 208. Once in receipt of theplacard attributes from the network 220, the output device can createthe appropriate placard. With this embodiment, the placard printingdevices 230 are essentially “dumb” terminals. While this implementationconsolidates the primary processing tasks of the invention in a centrallocation, it may introduce delays to the user because of the extrainvolvement of the communications network. However, as communicationspeeds continue to increase in the future, this delay may become less ofa concern.

Effectuating Payment

[0071] The present invention also preferably includes a means foreffectuating payment for printing hazardous material placards. In oneembodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a, upfront payment device 240 such asthose known in the art can be implemented with the placard printing.system 200. For example, a coin slot device, bill-accepting device, orcredit card/debit card reader of the types that are known in the art canbe used, wherein printing of a placard is contingent upon a userproviding sufficient payment therefor.

[0072]FIG. 11(a) illustrates an implementation wherein deferred billingis used. With this embodiment, the remote database 204 b is used forstoring billing records. As shown in FIG. 11(b), as a user begins theplacard printing process, he or she preferably provides a user ID to thesystem via input device 206 (step 1000). This user ID can be unique tothe individual, unique to the company for which the user works, orunique to the company or person for whom the hazardous material is beingtransported or stored. Also, a user can be requested to provide both aunique individual user ID and a company ID to allow for more detailedtransaction records. Thereafter, at step 1002, the processor creates arecord for the transaction that is indexed by the user ID. As thetransaction proceeds, this record can be populated with data such as thetype of placard(s) printed, the cost for the placard(s), and the dateand time of the printing (step 1004). At step 1006, the transactionrecord is stored in the database 204, and the appropriate entity (personor company) can be billed for the cost of the transaction.

[0073] It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art,that any of the embodiments of FIGS. 6-9 can be used in connection withthe upfront payment or deferred billing implementations of the presentinvention.

Updating the Placard Selection Program or Stored Placard Attributes:

[0074] With the present invention, the central server 222 can be used topush changes in to the placard selection program or changes in placardattributes to the various placard printing devices 230. As shown inFIGS. 12(a) and (b), for any embodiments wherein the placard selectionprogram 210 or placard attributes are stored locally by the placardprinting device 230, changes to the placard selection program 210 and/orplacard attributes can be sent from the central server 222 to theprocessors 202 over network 220 (step 1010). Thereafter, the processorcan update the program 210 and/or attributes 212 stored in memory 204 asappropriate (step 1012). This updating procedure can be an effectivetechnique for adjusting the operation of each placard printing device230 to accommodate changes in hazardous material placard practices.

[0075] While the present invention has been described above in relationto its preferred embodiment, various modifications may be made theretothat still fall within the invention's scope, as would be recognized bythose of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the teachings herein.For example, while the placard selection rules used by the presentinvention have been described in the context of compliance with theUnited States regulations, a person of ordinary skill in the art uponreading the specification would readily understand that the inventioncan also be implemented to comply with the regulations of other states,nations, provinces, or legal jurisdictions. As such, the full scope ofthe present invention is to be defined solely by the appended claims andtheir legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: an input device throughwhich a user can input parameters relating to a hazardous material to betransported or stored; a processor configured to determine a hazardousmaterial placard for the hazardous material according to a computerizedanalysis of the input parameters; and an output device configured toprint the determined placard.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the inputdevice and output device are located in a transportation terminal orstorage facility.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor isfurther configured to execute a hazardous material placard selectionprogram, the program being configured to determine a hazardous materialplacard according to a relationship between the input parameters and aplurality of predetermined hazardous material placard selection rules.4. The system of claim 3 further comprising: memory configured to storea plurality of hazardous material placard attributes corresponding tothe appearance of a plurality of hazardous material placards; whereinthe processor is further configured to retrieve the stored attributescorresponding to the determined hazardous material placard; and whereinthe output device is a printer configured to print the determinedplacard in accordance with the retrieved attributes.
 5. The system ofclaim 4 wherein the input device is configured to receive inputparameters from the user that correspond to at least one of the groupconsisting of (1) a class of hazardous material, and (2) an amount ofthe hazardous material.
 6. The system of claim 4 wherein the placardselection rules comply with government regulations relating to hazardousmaterials.
 7. The system of claim 6 wherein the placard selection rulesinclude segregation conditions.
 8. The system of claim 4 wherein thestored attributes comprise the appearance of a graphical placard symbol.9. The system of claim 8 wherein the stored attributes further compriseUN identification numbers.
 10. The system of claim 9 wherein the storedattributes further comprise hazardous material classification numbers.11. The system of claim 4 wherein the processor is in communication withthe memory via a communications network.
 12. The system of claim 4wherein the input device and output device are remote from the processorand in communication with the processor via a communications network.13. The system of claim 1 further wherein the input device is configuredto receive input data from the user corresponding to an entity to bebilled for the printed placard, and wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to communicate the billing data to a billing database forsubsequent processing.
 14. The system of claim 1 further comprising apayment device through which the user can effectuate payment for theprinted placard, wherein the payment device is in communication with atleast one of the group consisting of the input device, the processor,and the output device.
 15. The system of claim 14 wherein the outputdevice is configured to print the determined placard on the conditionthat the payment device has received sufficient payment from the user.16. The system of claim 1 wherein the printed placard complies withgovernment regulations defining the determined placard's appearance. 17.The system of claim 1 wherein the input device is configured to receiveinput parameters from the user that relate to a hazardous material to betransported.
 18. The system of claim 1 wherein the input device isconfigured to receive input parameters from the user that relate to ahazardous material to be stored.
 19. A placard printing systemcomprising: memory in which attribute data corresponding to a pluralityof hazardous material placards is stored; a user interface configured to(1) graphically depict a menu of a plurality of hazardous materialplacards that are available for printing and (2) receive input from auser corresponding to a selection of a placard from the menu; and aprocessor in communication with the user interface and memory, theprocessor being configured to retrieve placard attribute data frommemory that corresponds to the selected placard; and an output device incommunication with the processor, the output device being configured toprint a hazardous material placard in accordance with the retrievedattribute data.
 20. The system of claim 19 further comprising a seconduser interface configured to receive user input parameters correspondingto a hazardous material to be transported or stored, wherein theprocessor is further configured to execute a placard selection programto select a placard for printing at least partially according to theinput parameters.
 21. The system of claim 20 wherein the placardselection program is configured to implement a plurality of placardselection rules that comply with government placarding regulations, andwherein the output device is configure to print the placard in a formatthat complies with government placarding regulations.
 22. A methodcomprising: providing an interface through which a user can inputparameters relating to a hazardous material to be transported or stored;determining a hazardous material placard for the hazardous materialaccording to a computerized analysis of the input parameters; andprinting the determined placard.
 23. The method of claim 22 wherein thedetermining step comprises executing a hazardous material placardselection program configured to determine a hazardous material placardaccording to a relationship between the input parameters and a pluralityof hazardous material placard selection rules.
 24. The method of claim23 further comprising: storing a plurality of hazardous material placardattributes corresponding to the appearance of a plurality of hazardousmaterial placards; and retrieving the stored attributes corresponding tothe determined hazardous material placard; and wherein the printing stepcomprises printing the determined placard in accordance with theretrieved attributes.
 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the retrievingstep includes retrieving the stored attributes from a remote database.26. The method of claim 24 wherein the user input parameters correspondto at least one of the group consisting of (1) a class of hazardousmaterial, and (2) an amount of the hazardous material.
 27. The method ofclaim 24 wherein the placard selection rules comply with applicableregulations relating to hazardous materials.
 28. The method of claim 27wherein the applicable regulations are U.S. regulations.
 29. The methodof claim 28 wherein the placard selection rules include segregationconditions.
 30. The method of claim 22 wherein the printing stepcomprises printing the determined placard such that the printed placardcomplies with applicable government regulations.
 31. The method of claim22 further comprising storing billing data relating to the printedplacard in a billing database.
 32. The method of claim 31 wherein thebilling data comprises a cost for the printed placard and anidentification of a person or entity to be billed for the cost.
 33. Themethod of claim 32 further comprising providing an interface throughwhich a user can input data corresponding to the identification of theperson or entity to be billed for the cost of the printed placard. 34.The method of claim 21 further comprising providing a device throughwhich the user can effectuate payment for the printed placard.
 35. Amethod comprising; storing a plurality of hazardous material placardselection rules; storing a plurality of attributes corresponding to aplurality of hazardous material placards; receiving input from a usercorresponding to a hazardous material to be transported or stored;selecting a hazardous material placard at least partially in response tothe received input data and the placard selection rules; retrieving atleast one stored attribute that corresponds to the selected placard; andcreating a hazardous material placard in accordance with each retrievedattribute.
 36. The method of claim 35 wherein the placard selectionrules comply with government regulations relating to hazardousmaterials.
 37. The method of claim 36 wherein the created placardcomplies with government regulations relating to the selected placard.38. The method of claim 37 wherein the placard creating step comprisesprinting a hazardous material placard in accordance with each retrievedattribute.
 39. The method of claim 38 wherein the stored attributescomprise the appearance of a plurality of graphical placard symbols. 40.The method of claim 39 wherein the stored attributes further comprisehazardous material classification numbers.
 41. The method of claim 40wherein the stored attributes further comprise UN identificationnumbers.
 42. The method of claim 38 wherein the input receiving stepcomprises receiving data from a user corresponding to a weight of ahazardous material and at least one selected from the group consistingof (1) a class of a hazardous material, (2) a UN number of a hazardousmaterial, (3) a North American number of a hazardous material, and (4) aproper name of a hazardous material.
 43. The method of claim 35 whereinthe retrieving step comprises retrieving at least one stored attributethat corresponds to the selected placard from a remote database.
 44. Themethod of claim 35 wherein the placard selection rules includesegregation conditions.
 45. A hazardous material placard printingapparatus comprising: an input device through which a user enters datacorresponding to a shipment of a hazardous material; a database withinwhich a plurality of hazardous material placard attributes are stored,each hazardous material placard attribute identifying a graphicalappearance for at least a portion of a hazardous material placard; aprocessor in communication with the input device and the database, theprocessor being configured to (1) select a hazardous material placardfrom among a plurality of hazardous material placards at least partiallyaccording to the shipment data and a plurality of predetermined placardselection rules, and (2) retrieve placard attributes from the databasethat correspond to the selected hazardous material placard; and anoutput device in communication with the processor, the output devicebeing configured to create a hazardous material placard according to theretrieved placard attributes.
 46. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein theplacard attributes comprises representations of the appearance of aplurality of graphical placard symbols.
 47. The apparatus of claim 45wherein the database is remote from the processor and in communicationtherewith via a communications network.
 48. The apparatus of claim 45wherein the database is also configured to store the predeterminedplacard selection rules.
 49. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein thedatabase comprises a first database and a second database, wherein thesecond database is remote from the processor and in communicationtherewith via a communications network, wherein the first database isconfigured to store the predetermined placard selection rules, andwherein the second database is configured to store the placardattributes.
 50. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the database comprisesa first database and a second database, wherein the first database isremote from the processor and in communication therewith via acommunications network, wherein the first database is configured tostore the predetermined placard selection rules, and wherein the seconddatabase is configured to store the placard attributes.
 51. Theapparatus of claim 45 wherein the input device and output device areremote from the processor and are in communication therewith via acommunications network.
 52. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein thepredetermined placard selection rules and the created placard bothcomply with government regulations for hazardous material placards. 53.A system comprising: a placard printing device configured to print ahazardous material placard for a user in response to user input thatcorresponds to a shipment of a hazardous material, the device beingfurther configured to select the hazardous material placard for printingaccording to a placard selection program executed thereon, the placardselection program being configured to process the user input to selectthe hazardous material placard suitable for the shipment; and a serverremote from the device and in communication therewith via acommunications network, the server being configured to communicate theplacard selection program to the device for execution thereon.
 54. Thesystem of claim 53 wherein the device is configured to store the placardselection program communicated thereto for subsequent execution thereby.55. The system of claim 54 wherein the server is further configured tocommunicate a placard selection program update to the device.
 56. Thesystem of claim 55 wherein placard selection program comprises aplurality of placard selection rules that comply with governmentregulations for hazardous material placards, and wherein the placardselection program update corresponds to changes to the placard selectionrules that are necessary for the placard selection rules to comply withchanges in government regulations for hazardous material placards.
 57. Asystem comprising: a placard printing device configured to print ahazardous material placard for a user from placard attribute data, theplacard attribute data defining the graphical appearance of the placardto be printed; and a server remote from the device and in communicationtherewith via a communications network, the server being configured tocommunicate the placard attribute data to the device.
 58. The system ofclaim 57 wherein the placard attribute data complies with applicablegovernment regulations defining the appearance of hazardous materialplacards, and wherein the device is further configured to store theplacard attribute data communicated thereto.
 59. The system of claim 58wherein the server is further configured to communicate a placardattribute data update to the device, wherein the update corresponds to achange in the stored placard attribute data that is necessary forcompliance with a change in government regulations relating to theplacard's appearance.
 60. A computer readable medium comprising: storedplacard attribute data corresponding to the graphical appearances of aplurality of hazardous material placards; executable code for selectinga hazardous material placard at least partially according to user input;and executable code for instructing an output device to print theselected placard in accordance with the placard attribute datacorresponding to the selected placard.
 61. The computer readable mediumof claim 60 wherein the executable code for instructing the outputdevice includes executable code for instructing the output device toprint the selected placard such that the printed placard complies withgovernment regulations.
 62. The computer readable medium of claim 61further comprising executable code for graphically displaying a menu ofselectable hazardous material placards on a computer display.
 63. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 61 further comprising executable codefor graphically displaying an interface through which a user can inputparameters that correspond to a hazardous material to be transported orstored, and wherein the executable code for selecting a hazardousmaterial placard is configured to select the placard at least partiallyin response to the input parameters received from the user.
 64. A systemcomprising: an input device through which a user selects a hazardousmaterial placard from a menu of hazardous material placards; memory inwhich placard attributes are stored, the placard attributes defining thegraphical appearance of a plurality of hazardous material placards; aprocessor in communication with the input device and memory, wherein theprocessor is configured to retrieve from memory the placard attributescorresponding to the selected placard; and an output device incommunication with the processor, wherein the output device isconfigured to print one or more hazardous material placards inaccordance with the retrieved placard attributes.